We All Fall Down
by GhoulsLegion
Summary: How Ghoul went from becoming a lonely run away to a high-class henchman. -By Lillith-
1. Rain and Spliced Hyenas

**A/N:** By Lillith.

Dear readers, words cannot express how happy I am right now. Fellow Sony Vegas Movie Studio users may be able to empathize. You see, Vegas just took an hour to save a minute and a half long file and I was horrified it would freeze at 99 like my Vegas is prone to doing, but it did not. So I am happy now. As a result, you get fanfiction.

**Summary:** Ghoul gets soaked, pisses off some stoners, and nearly gets mauled by a half human, half hyena hybrid.

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Rain and Spliced Hyenas_

Ghoul, formerly known as Stewart Carter Winthorp III (and how he hated that name and all it stood for), looked up at the dark sky with a scowl as a raindrop landed in his outstretched palm. Rain was honestly the last thing he needed, what with the whole running away from home and having no money and no place to stay thing already on his plate. He was beginning to wonder why he ran away again.

Oh yeah. Everyone in his family was a bitch who couldn't handle even the slightest bit of imperfection. That was a pretty good reason. But maybe stealing a little of his dad's cash would have been a good idea. All he had with him were the clothes on his back and his basket full of tricks.

Ghoul shook his head. Instead of moping about it, he decided to find some place he could wait out the rain. Stupidly, he ducked into the first alley he saw, momentarily forgetting that this part of the city was heavily populated by cocaine and methamphetamine addicts.

He was quick to remember the fact when he was standing face to face with two such people, holding crowbars and looking rather pissed off.

Now, Ghoul had never been a particularly athletic person. Technology was more his thing. But if there was one thing he _did_ know, it was how to run for your life. He'd done it plenty of times before, and he was quite ready to do it again.

As the stoners started spewing off slurred curses, he felt the muscles in his legs tense, preparing to help him run like all hell had broken loose. And Ghoul was a fast little bastard when he wanted to be. There wasn't really anyone who could catch him when he didn't want to be caught.

As the stoners went to swing their rather bloody looking crowbars at him, he darted out of the alley. Unfortunately, the druggies weren't content with merely chasing him out of their alley, oh no. They had to make an example of the guy who was idiotic enough to run into their territory. Or they were just high and bored. Either way it meant he really had to book, ignoring the fact that he was knocking people down as he went.

* * *

Out of breath and starving, he found himself in the industrial district. Many of the warehouses on the east side where he was were abandoned, the businesses having long gone under. The one he was standing in front of, as the rain poured down and soaked him through, making him freeze, seemed to have been abandoned for many years. The letters on the sign were so faded he couldn't read them, although he was fairly sure that the first letter was L.

His continuing flawless sense of logic lead him to waltz into the warehouse without any sort of plan or investigation.

The building was large and covered in a fine layer of dust, with rotting boxes laying everywhere, styrofoam peanuts covering the floor like a new winter's snow. Rust had snaked its way onto every metal surface, coloring the dull grey red. All in all, it wasn't much, but it was druggie free and not the street. It was the best place he'd found to spend the night yet, even if it was damp and drafty.

He wandered to the far corner, away from windows and doors, where no one could see him. Setting his pumpkin down beside him, he let himself slide down the rusted wall until he was sitting. He rested his head on his shoulder, the days events manifesting in a migraine, but he didn't go to sleep; this place was too big, too empty for him to be able to sleep. He knew he'd have nightmares. Then again, he always did.

Eventually, though, he must have drifted into the smothering darkness of REM, a place past nightmares where he rarely ended up. Because when he woke up, it wasn't out of fright.

No, it was more the loud snarling noise coming from the rafters above him that had cut his nights sleep short. Definitely not a nightmare.

Not a sleeping one, at least.

His eyes widened as something leapt at him. Grabbing his pumpkin, he dove out of the way, causing the thing to collide with the wall instead of him. This didn't hinder it at all, and just seemed to make it all the more angry.

_It_ was some kind of twisted half human, half dog monster. Its eyes were pure white with no iris or pupil and its teeth were large and sharp looking and neither looked very pleasant at the moment.

The creature slashed at him, trying to tear him to shreds. Not expecting it, Ghoul's dodging was a bit slow, and the claws left violent red scratches across his stomach. As the creature tried to do it again, Ghoul's hand darted for his pumpkin and pulled out a low impact grenade. Pulling the pin, he tossed it towards the creature, but it fell far and the creature leapt out of the blast radius. Ghoul cursed as the small explosion did nothing but graze the crazed beast with shrapnel. He dove behind a group of boxes, which gave him time to pull out something that he thought would be slightly more effective; a flash-bang. He threw it and it landed perfectly, directly at the feet of the monster. While it stopped for a second to see what he had thrown, Ghoul threw himself behind a post and covered his ears, turning his head from the flash. He heard the loud yelp of the creature mingled with the powerful exploding noise. When he looked back, he saw it meandering around in a daze, crying pitifully. He almost felt sorry for it. He realized now that it was probably just trying to protect its territory, but his actions seemed justified by the fact that he'd nearly had his intestines ripped out.

The creature whined pitifully and rubbed its eyes...like a human. The creature _did_ look a little bit like a human; human like proportions, and a face with vaguely human features; but until now, its manneurisms were like those of an animal. But the way it rubbed its eyes reminded him of the way someone would rub their eyes just after they've woken up. Was there any way that this..._monstrosity_...could _still_ be human somehow? And what had made him into a creature like this?

Curiousity getting the best of him, Ghoul walked out from behind the pillar. The creature couldn't hear or see him, the flash-bang having taken its toll.The creature continued to whine pitifully, and eventually Ghoul made up his mind that it would be safe to approach the thing that had just tried to rip his face off.

He took a few cautious steps forwards, maneuvering around the pile of rotting boxes he'd hidden behind a few seconds ago. The dog-man-thing didn't seem to notice him. As he continued to whine, Ghoul began to feel a little bad about what he did. Which was odd, because remorse was an alien concept to him, having never had the need to feel remorseful.

"Uh...umm.." Ghoul's words caught in his throat. Did this thing even understand english?

Regardless of its understanding of the universal language, it did seem to hear him, and threw its head around and snarled ferociously. Ghoul fell backwards into the boxes with a yell, scattering stryofoam peanuts everywhere. Trying to get back up in order to be able to run away, he ended up nearly burying himself in the white packaging material. When he managed to sit up again, he spat out a mouthful and looked up to see the creature...

...laughing.

The creature was chuckling quite heartily at him. His face reddened, but he was actually relieved. Somewhere behind the monstrous appearance was a human conciousness; how strong it was, he didn't know, but it was a relief all the same.

"Yeah, yeah...very funny..." he mumbled, standing and trying not to slip on the peanuts. The creature only laughed at him harder. He winced as the scratches across his stomach started stingin, and suddenly remembered the cut the shrapnel from his grenade had given the creature. Grabbing his pumpkin, he approached him. The grin dissappeared from his face and he snarled at Ghoul again. Ghoul put up his hands.

"Easy now. I just wanna look at your arm." he said. The creature snarled a little longer, but when he saw that Ghoul didn't seem to mean any harm, he relaxed. Ghoul on the other hand was feeling quite tense with the knowledge that one little mistake could very well kill him. After all, this creature, whatever it was, seemed to be a loose cannon.

Nervously, he walked up next to the creature and, with shaking hands, moved the fur matted with blood out of the cut. It didn't seem to a very deep gash, but he knew enough to know it had to be bandaged. He had once gotten a similar cut from one of the many people at his school who believed he was a good target, and he had left it, because of course his family didn't care at all about his injuries. It had become infected and he might have lost the use of his arm had one of the housekeepers not noticed (Coincidentally, the same housekeeper lost her job the next day). After that, he was careful to get proper medical attention for all of his injuries, and when he'd left home one of the things he'd thought to bring with him was a first-aid kit.

He pulled out the kit and found the disinftecting alcohol. He poured some onto a cotton ball and gently applied it to the cut. The creature yelped but didn't do anything; he seemed to understand the premise of what was going on. After the disinftecting alcohol was applied, he pulled out a roll of bandages and tied them tightly around the wound. He was glad that he'd decided to learn some medical practices instead of continuiously going to the school nurse for every injury.

When he was finished, the creature examined the bandage and nodded, as if in approval. He gestured to Ghoul's own injury.

"They're barely scrapes. They shouldn't get infected as I long as I don't rub anything in 'em." he replied, still not knowing if the other could understand him. He seemed to, though, and turned and made his way towards a set of stairs towards the back right of the warehouse. He stopped and looked back at Ghoul, as though waiting for him to follow. Ghoul did so, following him up the narrow staircase and onto the small platform that wound around the entire warehouse.

Although bare rafters decorated most of the upper area, at the very back, in the opposite corner from where Ghoul had been sitting when the creature had attacked him, there was a landing of some sort. It looked like some kind of machinery had once been here, which had probably been torn out after the company had gone out of business. In its place was a book case, and two subjects dominated its shelves; animals, and genetics.

The creature sauntered over to the shelf and took a rather ratty looking edition. He bounded over to the wall, where a makeshift bed had been set up, and sat. He looked at him as though once again waiting. Ghoul followed once again and sat down beside him. Very carefully, the creature opened the book, careful not to tear the pages with his sharp claws. He opened to an article on splicing and pointed. Then he grabbed another book, returned to the same spot, and opened to an article about spotted hyenas. Ghoul shuddered. He had figured that it had been something like that, but still...it was rather unnerving to know.

Splicing, the process in which a human was combined with animal DNA, had been outlawed months ago. Now he could see why.

"I guess you can't talk...so what'll I call you?" In response, the creature merely barked. It was throaty and scratchy, but still a bark at its roots.

"How's about Woof?" he asked. The creature nodded in acceptance.

"My name's Ghoul." he said. Woof grinned at him.

Ghoul decided that Woof wasn't really bad after all.

* * *

He should have known better than to go to sleep again. REM sleep was a rarity that only graced him after weeks of sleepless nights, and it had been barely an hour since he'd woken up. But watching Woof sleep soundly had lulled him into a tired stupor.

It was no surprise that he woke up screaming.

Ghoul had begun having nightmares shortly after he started school, when people had started to beat him up. And not just a push to the ground or shoved up against the locker, but broken bones, bloody noses, and whole big patches of skin stained black and blue by bruises. He had been 6 at the time.

Since then, he'd had nightmares almost every night. Every night he slept, at least, and he mostly gave up on sleeping once he learned that his parents didn't care that he woke up screaming every night. It was why, aside from the whole 'skull' thing, that he wore makeup around his eyes. Only when he became so exhausted that he could no longer force his eyes to stay open did he usually sleep.

But he'd erred today, and his nightmares were his punishment.

He bolted up out of the makeshift bed that Woof had allowed him to share, covered in a layer of cold sweat, panting as though he'd run a marathon. Woof had been startled and had leapt into the corner, but now approached him, whining worriedly. Ghoul put his knees together and rested his head on them, gripping it tightly. For several minutes he was very silent, but soon enough he raised his head and looked appologetically at Woof.

"Sorry. Just a bad dream." he said weakly, his voice sounding raw from the harsh scream. "Happens all the time. Just go back to sleep." Woof didn't seem convinced, but he did as he was told and curled up on the bed again.

Ghoul spent the rest of the night watching him sleep.

* * *

"Are you ready to go?"

Woof, with a worn shoulder bag filled with a few important things from his little hideout, spared one glance back at the landing before following Ghoul towards the exit of the warehouse.

When Ghoul had told him that morning that he was leaving, Woof insisted (in his own way) to come along. Ghoul had no objections. He was tired of being alone all the time, and Woof was pretty cool. He also seemed smart, even though he didn't seem to be able to speak. And he wouldn't have to worry about being bothered with Woof with him, since he doubted anyone in their right mind would try to attack, or even get near, Woof. Of course, he would, but he knew Woof. Nobody else would try to get to know him.

Woof didn't spare another look at his former home as they walked back towards the city. Just like Ghoul, he didn't have anything to mourn leaving behind. Neither of them had anything, and they were sure that the only direction they had to go in was up.

They were wrong.

* * *

**Next Time:** Ghoul has a run-in with his druggie pals, Woof gets chased by rabid Doberman's, Ghoul gets run over twice and steals a car, and Bonk and Chucko join the party.


	2. Cars are a Menace

**A/N: **Still by Lillith.

Yeah, I'm still going with this story X3 I like it. Unfortunately, this is the last chapter for which I have a fully thought out plan, so the rest I'll pretty much be winging it. There's going to be at least 2 more chapters, possibly 3, and then I'll hopefully be able to start something new. Or, at least, get some more of the Ghoul100 done.

**Summary: **Ghoul has a run-in with his druggie pals, Woof gets chased by rabid Doberman's, Ghoul gets run over twice and steals a car, and Bonk and Chucko join the party.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Cars are a Menace_

Woof whined annoyingly at Ghoul. He could tell he was hungry, but it didn't really matter. Ghoul himself was also hungry. But being hungry was something you had to deal with when you were out of food and money. Like they had been for the past 4 days.

If he had access to a computer, of course, it would be a different story. But when he'd left home he hadn't wanted to be weighed down by one, so he hadn't brought one. It was just like him to think of how important something could be _after_ he left it behind.

He looked up at the dreary grey sky. Something Ghoul had quickly learned about this place was that it always had the same weather; cloudy. Another thing he had quickly learned was that it was teeming with criminals, most of whom stayed away from freaky hyena monsters. Of course, Woof wasn't really _that_ scary, unless he was angry, but he did look it. He still shuddered at the thought of someone combining themselves with an animal, ripping out and replacing the very fabric of their life.

It had become the new star of his nightmares.

"We don't have any food, Woof. You'll have to wait a while longer." he said. He was hoping that they could find a store or some such that would be easy to break into and they could get some food or, even better, money.

_Of course that wouldn't be a problem if I'd just brought the stupid **computer**_... Ghoul thought bitterly. They could have easily had more than enough money to sustain themselves by now. After all, he was a talented hacker. Even the high-security account of his father's robotics company was child's play for him these days. It was how he'd gotten by money wise, since his parent's hadn't cared enough to ever bother giving him any. Pinch a little here, a little there...his father had suspected his employees, but never his 'incompetant, rebellious' son.

Lost in his thoughts of days thankfully behind him, he didn't notice what alley they happened to be going in.

And druggies, he discovered, were not particularly afraid of human-hyena hybrids when they were stoned. And when they had fierce looking doberman's with them.

Needless to say, the inhabitants of the alley weren't too happy.

"Hey, it's that punk from the other day!" one yelled in a drugged slur.

"Let's get 'im!" another said. "And his stupid dog thing!"

Without any hesitation, Ghoul and Woof ran. And without an hesitation the druggies followed, their dogs snarling and snapping.

Now, Ghoul and Woof were both incredibly fast, but so were the dogs. At one point they were nearly nipping Ghoul's heels, and one managed to get it's teeth into Woof's arm before he could smash it into the ground.Woof yelped in pain and, trying to escape the ferocious dogs, took a sharp left and ran full force down a branching street, people jumping or being knocked out of his way as he went.

"Woof!" he yelled, pausing momentarily. But while the dogs had started chasing after Woof, the stoners were still hot on his trail and he still wasn't any more inclined to being beaten. Instead, he made his second large mistake of the day and darted into the street.

And then got hit by a car.

Luckily it stopped quickly enough that he wasn't run over or fatally injured, but he heard something crack and felt a horrible pain.

"Bonk, you idiot! You hit somebody!" said one of the two guys in the sleek, black, obviously stolen car. He was stout and wearing a pink leotard and hiding his face behind a clown mask.

"Hey, don't look at me! I couldn't pay attention with you yelling in my ear like that!" said the second man, a brute with grey skin and wearing a red shirt and black overalls.

"I was yelling, 'Look out! There's a guy in the road!'"

As they got out of the car, asking if he was okay, Ghoul saw his chance.

As soon as they were out of his way, he threw himself to his feet, ignoring the screaming pain in his side, and jumped through the open driver's side door. Slamming it shut, he forsaked the seat belt and cranked the ignition.

"Hey! Whad'you think your doing?!" demanded the grey skinned brute.

"I'm borrowing this." he replied, stomping the ignition a bit too hard. The car went screaming down the road, nearly colliding directly with the men as they tossed themselves to the ground to get out of his way. He heard them screaming curses at him but he didn't really care. He only had two objectives at the moment; escaping the crazed drug addicts, and finding Woof before he got eaten. Of course, he had absolutely _no_ experience behind the wheel of a vehicle, having been raised in a world of chauffered limouzines. As such, he often lost control of the vehicle while trying to navigate the relatively straight road, sending him careening into the sidewalk at random moments. However, he somehow was able to find Woof without crashing. Braking to a sudden stop, he put the car into park and revved, honking at loudly as he could, willing the dogs to either run away or get lured towards him. They chose the latter, barking madly and rushing at him like bats out of hell. At the last moment he put the car back into drive and sped forward, careening directly into the dogs, knocking their limp bodies aside. Of course, now the car was once again out of control, and he was headed straight for a wall.

He screamed and threw the door open, launching himself towards the pavement as the car became a mangled piece of scrap metal against the sturdy, old fashioned brick wall in front of it. He breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped with his life.

In a second, Woof was at his side, looking concerned despite the fact that _he'd_ been the one who's just gotten attacked by crazed dogs, and had the nasty looking bites and scratches to prove it. Ghoul quickly pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm fine." he said. "You're not." He began digging through his pumpkin, searching for his handy first aid kit. He'd discovered soon after he began travelling with Woof that he got hurt a fair amount (not as much as himself, but still) and that _he _was very paranoid about those injuries. After all, Woof was the only friend he'd had in his 19 years, and he didn't want anything bad to happen to him, like the infection he'd gotten as a kid.

But before he could do anything, Woof had dashed out of the way. And for good reason.

Another car, with the same two guys behind the wheel, was careening down the street. And they looked rather pissed off.

By the time his mind processed that it was time to get the hell off of the street, the car had already crashed into him, sending him flying and producing another sickening crunch and more horrible pain.

The last things he heard before blacking out in agony were the sounds of Woof snarling, a glass windshield breaking, and the screaming of the two guys in the car.

* * *

When he woke up, he was in a soft bed. Well, softer than the alleys and abandoned buildings he'd been spending the night in for the past week. He was well taped up, and the pain in his chest from where he'd apparently broken some ribs numbed, at least temporarily. The pain in his hip was a different story. It didn't seem to be broken, but it was a disgusting shade of purpleish black, even though he was very hard to bruise these days because of his dyed and tough skin.

He looked around the dark room and was able to pick out Woof's sleeping form at the side of his bed. He took a deep breath but pain exploded in his chest and side, making him cry out and waking the hybrid, who snarled menacingly.

"S'okay Woof." he said in a slur, his speech impeded by the painkillers he seemed to be on. "Just me being stupid."

"Look who's finally awake."

Ghoul and Woof turned their heads towards the door, where flickering fluorescent lights illuminated the thick darkness. Standing in the doorway was the burly greay skinned man, wearing a sour look on his face. Woof growled at him and he backed up a few paces, where it would be easy to put the door between them.

"I was only unconcious because _you_ ran me over." Ghoul said.

"I only ran ya over because _you_ stole our car." he replied. "Then totaled it."

"I needed it more than you did." was Ghoul's defense. And the other man didn't seem to want to argue when Woof was looking like he was about to rip his innards out. Instead, he turned his shoulder to them, still keeping a close eye on Woof.

"Hey Chucko! The scarecrow guy's awake!" he shouted.

"I have a _name_, you know." Ghoul snarled.

"Look, kid, you're lucky we even decided to take you along." he said. Ghoul snorted. Woof made to lunge at the obnoxious man, but he grabbed his ear to stop him.

"Yeah right. I heard you guys screaming when Woof attacked. You just took care of me because you didn't want to be ripped to shreds." he said. "In fact, if I let go of him right now, Woof probably _would._ He doesn't like you very much. And you could have at least bandaged his wounds, jeez."

"You're whining an awful lot for a guy with broken ribs who's relying on _us_ to keep him from getting _more_ hurt." the guy said.

"I was doing just fine until you ran me over." Ghoul said. "Anyways, where's my pumpkin?" he asked, looking around. His pumpkin bag was nowhere in sight.

"Your what?" the big grey guy asked, confused.

"My _pumpkin_. The halloween basket I had." Ghoul explained. "Where is it? I need the first aid kit."

"Oh, that thing." he said. "I think Chucko had it. Where is he, anyways?"

"Woof, fetch." Ghoul said. Woof laughed his throaty chuckle at the command and bounded past the grey skinned guy. Moments later he heard a fracas somewhere else in the building.

"Hey, get back here with that, ya mutt!" he heard the other man yell. Seconds later Woof bounded back into the room, the pumpkin basket's handle held securely in his mouth. After he dumped it into Ghoul's hands, he did a quick inventory check and discovered he was missing several grenades and flash bangs. As this discovery was made, Chucko ran into the room. Ghoul glared at him.

"Woof, sic' 'im."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a second! I-I didn't mean anything, honest! Here, have your stuff back!" Chucko said nervously, tossing the supplies to him. He almost didn't catch them, but managed to in the end, despite almost dropping one of the flash bangs. As he placed it back in his basket, he smirked to himself, glad that being friends with Woof gave him power over these guys. Remembering his original intentions for getting his pumpkin back, he pulled out the first aid kit. As he was properly cleaning and dressing Woof's wounds, Bonk and Chucko slipped away, now knowing that it would be best not to anger the thin scarecrow-like teenager.

**Next Time:** Ghoul finally gets a place to sleep, money, and coffee, and finds out just how confusing identical twins can be.


	3. Seeing Double

**A/N:** Still by Lillith. That won't change any time soon.

This is the first time I don't know what this chapter is going to be like before writing it, so at this point, I know just about as much as you do, since I gave you a brief summary last chapter, and that was pretty much all _I_ knew about this chapter. So the quality (or lack thereof) and contents of this chapter is just as much a surprise to me as it is to you.

**Summary:** Ghoul finally gets a place to stay, money, and coffee, and finds out just how confusing identical twins can be.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Seeing Double_

One thing Ghoul quickly learned about Chucko and Bonk was that they had absolutely no computer knowledge whatsoever. The computer in their little hideout, an abandoned and out-of-date apartment building, was gathering dust in the corner. Updating everything and setting up their network gave him an excellent reason to avoid speaking to the two men for the entire day. And it honestly needed it. The computer had to have been sitting there, unused and unwanted for _years_. Maybe a decade. Maybe more. Chucko said that it had been there since before they'd 'moved in'. And judging by the state of, well, _everything_ in this place, it had been abandoned a long time ago.

Shortly after getting the computer running at a state where it at least didn't freeze every couple of minutes, and getting the network to a state where it didn't take 20 minutes to load a webpage, he got to doing what he did best. In less than an hour he had put 2 small companies out of business and had about 2000 in his bank account. It wasn't much, but it was best to only take small amounts to avoid getting caught. And some money was better than no money. He'd have to continue living in this filthy apartment, but he could mostly support himself. And more importantly, he could buy _coffee_.

He hadn't had coffee since before he'd left home, and the lack of caffeine was starting to get to him. Especially after his week long stint of no sleeping, over than the whole 'being knocked unconcious due to being run over' ordeal. So, bank card in hand and ATM around the corner, he set off, Woof following him, as he didn't much care for Bonk or Chucko either.

"I'm going out for a while." he told Bonk, the only one still there. Chucko had left in the early afternoon, about 6 or 7 hours ago, and hadn't come back. He really didn't care why. "Don't touch the computer. Don't look at it, don't breath on it, don't even _think_ about it until I get back." For emphasis, both he and Woof turned to glare at him. He got the message and stared off into space, his gaze turned away from the computer.

Soon after aquiring his alloted 200 and tucking it safely into his pumpkin, he made his way to what could have been a nice little ma-and-pa coffee shop until the squatters and addicts overtook the neighbourhood. Now it looked more like a filthy little diner, but it still sold coffee. He bought two, one for himself and one for Woof. Woof filled his with cream and sugar until it looked more like milk than coffee, but Ghoul took his black. He found that the caffeine worked more effectively that way, in spite of how much he loved sweet things. Thinking about how much he loved sweets made him crave some, so he bought a half dozen unidentifiable pastries and split them with Woof. He split a lot of things with Woof.

He got back to the apartments a happier man, especially when he saw that Bonk hadn't gone anywhere near the computer. With Woof vegged out on the couch he'd pulled near the desk, Ghoul downloaded and installed his favorite program; FrostWire. He'd been deprived of his music for much too long. Evening faded into night faded into early morning, Woof sleeping peacefully on the couch behind him, as he downloaded more music than he could ever possibly listen to. But one of the first ones he downloaded was the one that had given him his name. He remembered doing exactly this, sitting in his perfectly tidy room, waiting for his parents to stop screaming at each other, and hearing that song.

'_And death danced with the queen as her life fell away,_

_and the ghoul's rose from the earth and burned the world to the ground._'

How fitting.

* * *

Life with Bonk and Chucko was annoying, but at the very least it was easy. They mostly stayed out of his way, except to bug him for money because they were clearly incapable of getting any on their own. They lived mostly on take-out and junk food because none of them could cook. Ghoul remembered trying to cook once. It had taken them 3 weeks to repair the kitchen.

That night was his night to get food. There was a cheap fast food place nearby that made half decent food. He decided that would be a good place to go because the people working there never gave him any trouble. At other places they did. They werent particularly fond of his persona. Which was too bad for them. And this place didnt care whether or not animals entered, in spite of the no animals sticker clearly pasted on the door, so Woof didn't have to wait outside.

He opened the door, ignoring the obnoxious chimes, and held it open for Woof. The pimply faced teenager at the counter looked up from his magazine annoyedly as he strode lazily to the counter, just generally annoyed at having to be there. He ordered and strode away from the counter before the kid could ask him any more questions, and sat at the second booth, waiting for the food to be cooked. He would have sat at the first booth but it was occupied by two girls, identical by the looks of them, wearing orange yarn wings and white caps, red tube tops and boots, and white short shorts, along with clownish makeup. They whispered and giggled as he passed, but he ignored them.

"He looks a little strange, doesn't he, Dee Dee?" one of them said, quite obviously talking loud enough for him to hear.

"I dunno, Dee Dee. _I _think he's kind of cute." said the second.

"Maybe if you like scarecrows, Dee Dee." said the first.

"Interesting friend he's got there, too." said the second.

"Kind of like a science experiment gone wrong."

That was the last straw. He turned around in the booth, having been faced away from them, and looked at them with an almost lazy confidence that he'd seemed to have developed from living with Chucko and Bonk.

"Do you girls mind keeping it down? All that shrilling is hurting my ears."

The first girl, the one who'd been making all of the snappy remarks, made an attempt to punch him in the face, but between his ducking out of the way and her sister stopping her he was luckily spared the embarassment.

"Order up!"

Ghoul ducked out of the booth, Woof following behind, unsure of what to think of the twins. He grabbed the greasy paper bags and slipped out into the quickly fading evening light.

Back in the restaurant, the twins looked at each other deviously.

"You what would be _fun_, Dee Dee?" the first one asked.

"I think so, Dee Dee."

They grinned at each other and, abandoning their milkshakes at their table, dashed out of the restaurant.

* * *

Ghoul nearly dropped the bags of food.

When he opened the front door, the first thing, or rather things he saw were the twins he'd seen at the fast food place.

"Fancy meeting you here." said one of them. He suppressed a growl of rage and dumped the paper bags, slick with grease, on the table.

"Bonk, Chucko, food." he called out, hoping that the age old philosophy of 'ignore them and they'll go away' would work. It didn't, and Bonk and Chucko came into the room and looked at the girls, shocked. Well, at least he _thought_ Chucko was shocked. It was kind of hard to tell while he was wearing the mask. Which was all the time.

"Who're the chicks?" Bonk asked.

"They followed me." was all Ghoul said.

"Actually, we got here first." said the twin who hadn't spoken to him earlier. He could tell because one, the one who had just spoken, was perched on the edge of the unused kitchen counter, and the other was sitting on the armrest of the ratty armchair. "I'm Delia." she said.

"And I'm Deidre." said the other.

"But just call us Dee Dee." they said in unison.

"So, what're girls like you doing in a dump like this anyway?" Chucko asked. The Dee Dee's giggled. Ghoul rolled his eyes and retreated to his corner, Woof following. He didn't want anything to do with this conversation.

"Actually, we were looking for a place to stay." said Delia.

"Our mom ditched us at our grandma's place and she's just an old stick-in-the-mud." explained Deidre.

"So we decided to leave." Delia said.

"But we don't have any money."

"Well, you girls are _more_ then welcome to stay here." said Chucko. Ghoul rolled his eyes again.

"Thanks, uh..."

"Chucko." he said. "And that's Bonk. And over there, that's..."

"Ghoul." Ghoul finished. He didn't like being introduced by others. "And the one you said looks like a 'science experiment gone wrong' is Woof." Woof growled at the statement. There was some truth in it, as he _was_ something of a science experiment, it was still a degrading comment.

As the girls passed by, he tapped the one he thought was Deidre on the shoulder and gestured for her to come closer. He slipped something into her hand.

"Chucko's good at picking locks. You'll want to attatch this to the doorknob." he said. "Just remember to take it off in the morning before one of you electrocutes yourself."

"Thanks." she said.

"Deidre, hurry up!" her sister yelled.

"Coming, Delia!" she yelled back as she jogged down the hallway.

Maybe Deidre wasn't so bad. He couldn't say the same for her sister, though.

* * *

"What'cha doing, Ghoulie?"

Ghoul nearly had a heart attack as someone snatched his newly-purchased earphones out of his ears and spoke loudly directly next to his ear.

"That's not funny, Delia." He could pretty easily tell the difference between them now. At least, he could when they actually said or did something. When he just walked into the room he still had a nasty habit of mixing them up, and somehow he was _always_ wrong. He was beginning to wonder if they did it on purpose.

"Sure it is." she replied. He remembered his little sister always doing the same thing. In fact, the Deed's were _a lot_ like his younger sister. They were both annoying as hell.

He wondered if Bethany missed him. He doubted it. They'd been close when they were younger, but when she'd turned 12 his mother had decided that it was time to mold her into the 'perfect child'. They never really spoke after that, except when she bothered him.

Grabbing his earphones back from Delia, he turned around in his chair. Woof was sitting on the couch, looking appologetic. He seemed to get along better with the Deed's, as Ghoul had started calling them, than he did with Chucko and Bonk. He didn't seem to like growling at them. Well, Deidre at least, and Ghoul couldn't blam him. Deidre _did_ seem to be a pretty decent person, but unfortunately she was always following her sister and doing whatever she said. A veritable puppet, and a mean one at that. When Delia wanted her to be. It was kind of sad, really. He probably could have gotten along well with Deidre.

"D'you what _I _heard, Ghoulie?" Delia asked.

"One, I don't care, and two, stop calling me Ghoulie." he said.

"Supposedly they're supposed to be getting a big shipment in at that place downtown where they manufacture super-computers. I bet there'd be a _lot_ of nice computer parts there that you could use." she said.

Ghoul's interest perked. It was true, there _would_ be a lot of nice computer parts he could use. Probably more than he'd ever need.

"I was thinking that _maybe_ we could borrow some of it..and sell what you don't need, of course." Delia continued, tracing a circle on his cheek. He swatted her hand away but the idea was tempting.

"I'm not the one in charge here. Go ask Chucko." He heard Delia turn around and high five Deidre because they knew that really, he _was_ sort of the one in charge, as he was the brains of their little group. And he was basically saying yes.

He sighed, knowing he'd regret it later.

* * *

**Note: **Those aren't lyrics from an actual song, but I didn't just make them up off of the top of my head. They're actually lyrics from a song my friend wrote a few years back that never made it past the lyrics sheet. All I had to do was change a word, as it didn't say 'ghoul' before. And yes, I _do _have permission to use them.

Also, during the Deed's restaurant conversation, Delia is the first one speaking. Deidre is the second. In case you hadn't noticed, I _do_ enjoy the Ghoul/Deidre pairing on occaion, but I don't think I'll make it an actual pairing in this story. I might make a one-shot in the future, though.

**Next Time:** Ghoul discovers that they actually make decent thieves.

(We're getting _really_ close to the end here, folks, I assure you. Only 2 more chapters to go.)


	4. Crime Does Pay

**A/N: **If I need to tell you who's writing this by now, you have problems.

Yet another chapter where I have no more idea what's going to happen than you do. At least, while I'm writing this message. Of course I know when you'll actually be reading this. Unless you're Jess.

On another note, like I said, we're getting reaallllyyyy close to the end. This happens to be the next-to-last chapter. After this I'm going to be working more on the prompts list, and I have another chaptered fic that involves Juniper, that girl from my second prompt (the third chapter in the prompts list), planned. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should go read them. It's a collab between me and Jess and it's awesome. /shameless self promotion

**Summary:** Ghoul learns that their group makes half-decent thieves.

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Crime Does Pay_

The delivery was being made on the following Sunday. With Chucko's help, Ghoul carefully plotted how they'd break in. It was pretty simple with the information he gathered from hacking into the company's system and learning about the date, time, location and passwords necessary to steal the equipment. From there the rest seemed ridiculously easy.

The night of they easily made it to the factory without detection, thanks to the Deed's staggering knowledge of the city's alleys.

The delivery had already been made earlier in the day, but since they knew that there was no chance of stealing it then they had waited until they knew the factory would be closed. Numerous guards patrolled the area but they were easily dealt with. Pretty much everyone in the group, save Ghoul because he couldn't fight worth his life, could easily knock out the guards.

Soon enough they were inside. They knew the equipment would be kept in storage until production began the next day; the only problem was _finding_ the storage. Unfortunately their efforts, or rather _Ghoul's_ efforts, had not produced a map.

"Nothing good here, either." Chucko said with a shrug.

"How many places could they hide this stuff in?" Bonk asked, having become rather impatient and annoyed.

"A lot. Big factories like this can sometimes have 30 or 40 storage rooms." Ghoul explained. He remembered that fact well from his tour of his father's main robotics factory.

"Who's there?"

Everyone froze. How could there be another guard? Surely they'd taken care of them all outside.

"Identify yourself!"

"Shit!" Bonk cursed.

Blasts began flying around their heads. They dove behind a pile of crates, all cursing like sailors. Chucko pulled out his gun and began shooting at the guard while the others ducked for cover from the shots flying around them.

"Got 'im." Chucko said after a small firefight. "But someone's bound to hear that. We don't have very long."

"Now that I think about it, they're probably keeping the equipment on the second floor." Ghoul said. "It's closer to the production line."

"Then let's go to the second floor, _before_ we get shot at again." Bonk said, glaring at him for some reason or another.

"What, is this somehow _my_ fault now?" he asked. "_I_ did more than my fair share of work. _You_ could have been keeping watch."

"Watch it, kid. Right now you're the most useless part of this group." Bonk growled. Ghoul scoffed.

"Without me, we wouldn't even be in this place right now." he said.

"Look, boys, this is no time for fighting." said one of the Deed's. It sounded like Deidre.

"Yeah, save that for after we finish the heist." Chucko agreed. Woof nodded.

"...fine." Ghoul said. "Let's get moving."

* * *

"Junk...junk...more junk..." Ghoul said, as he sorted through the contents of the boxes. "Wait a second...here we go. Jackpot." He pulled out a bunch of parts from the last box in the room.

"How much do you think we'll get?" Bonk asked.

"1500...maybe 2000 per. This is pretty rare, top-of-the-line stuff." he replied. "Lots of computer buffs would pay through the nose to get it." He began picking through the box, every once in a while putting something in his pumpkin. After he was finished, he stood. Chucko emptied the remaining contents of the box into the bag he was carrying.

"We'd better split before the cops show up." he said. "Dee Dee, go and see if there are any more guards out there."

"On the double!" they said in unison, and ducked out of the doorway. They came back a minute later.

"There's nobody inside." said one.

"But there are a bunch outside." said the other. Ghoul turned to look at Woof.

"Think you can handle it?" he asked. Woof nodded confidently.

"You go too, Bonk, and try not to screw it up." Chucko commanded. "We'll go get a car." They both nodded and darted out of the storage room. "So, nothing else worth grabbing here, Ghoulo?" Ghoul snarled at the nickname. Could no one call him by his real name, the one he'd given himself?

"Most of this stuff is worth more as a paperweight." he clarified.

"Then let's split."

* * *

They managed to find a decently fast black car, presumably belonging to one of the guards they'd taken out. It was only a 5 seater, and the Deed's were quick to call shotgun, Delia claiming the set and Deidre sitting on the armrest.

The careened around the side of the factory to see Woof and Bonk knocking away guards left and right. Ghoul opened the door, put two fingers in his mouth, and whistled loudly. Woof turned and dashed towards the car, diving through the open door. Ghoul helped pull him in.

"Bonk! Get the lead out!" Chucko yelled, swerving towards the fight still going on. Bonk ran to the car and grabbed onto the side of the still open door, nearly tearing his arm off in the process, and jumped into the car, squashing Ghoul and Woof against the opposite door. Bonk slammed the door shut and they went speeding out of the factory, headed back towards the apartments.

All in all, Ghoul decided, it had gone pretty well. There had been some hinges, but they'd gotten out, with enough loot to last them a while. And he had almost all he needed to build his perfect computer, the rest being things he could easily buy in your garden-variety computer store.

It was a good start. And he knew it wasn't the end, not yet.

* * *

Woof watched intently as he pulled each piece of computer equipment out of his pumpkin, carefully analyzed it, and sorted it. He spent most of the next few hours sitting almost completely still, staring at the parts, figuring out how he was going to do this. It wasn't until 3 or 4 AM, with Woof fast asleep on the couch behind him as usual, that he began to get to work.

It only took him a couple of hours, using both the stolen equipment and parts he could salvage from the old computer, to get something that began vaguely resembling a computer. All he needed now was an extra harddrive and a better monitor. It was about 7 AM by now, and he figured that, by the time he actually _got_ to a half-decent computer shop, it would be open. He scribbled a note for Woof saying where he'd be.

When he got back, arms tired from carrying the monitor, everyone was awake and milling about, except for Chucko, who didn't seem to be there as usual. Woof was vigilantly keeping watch over his frankencomputer, and he smiled.

"Morning, Woof." he said as he sat down, already beginning to unpack the monitor. He handed the contents of his other hand, a coffee packed with cream and sugar, to him.

"What's that thing?" Bonk asked.

"It's a computer." Ghoul said.

"_That's_ a computer?"

"It will be." he said. "After I finish building it." Just then, Chucko came in.

"You were right, kid. That stuff was worth a pretty penny." he said, waving around a wad of cash. "We should do this more often!" It had been pretty successful, all things considered. None of them had gotten seriously injured and it had gotten them a lot of money. "Think you can dig up info on another good place to hit?" he asked.

"It'll have to wait until I finish this." Ghoul replied, pointing to the unfinished computer. "But yeah."

"_I _know another good place." said one of the Deed's.

And that was how it all began.

And how it all ended, really.

* * *

**Next Time:** Ghoul and co. receive a mysterious letter.

(Next chapter is the last. I'm both sad and happy to see it go.)


	5. The Devil's Card

**A/N:** Again, if I need an intro by now, you have problems.

Final chapter! And once again, you know as much about it as I do! After this I have a couple of things I want to do, so don't worry. There will be more fanfiction forthcoming. I have a couple of prompts in the works, plus a one shot about the Jokerz and Chronos, plus the next chapter fanfic I have planned. All in all, there'll be a lot more. So no worries. I might take a little while, because I have tons of homework and other stuff to work on, but I WILL get it done. Don't worry.

**Summary:** Ghoul and co. receive a mysterious letter.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_The Devil's Card _

For a while, they all just sat there, staring at the envelope.

The letter had been discovered that morning, slipped under the door sometime during the night. It was a plain white envelope, no return address, no stamp or anything. All it said on the envelope was each of their names. All of them were very worried about opening it, especially since they were unsure of how anyone knew where to find them.

Bonk was the one who finally opened it.

"I'm tired of sitting here and staring at a stupid envelope!" he yelled, and grabbed it, ripping it open. Everyone else moved back in case it was some sort of trap, but nothing happened. Bonk pulled the letter out. "One of you read it." he said. Chucko took it.

"_Hello there, kiddies._

_I know that you 6 were behind the factory robbery last week. It was quite an impressive feat, especially for such amateurs. I have to say, I'm impressed. I've been looking for some 'little helpers' of your calibur to assist me for quite some time now._

_I'd like to meet with you tonight, at the Jolly Jack Candy Factory, to see whether or not you're worthy of working for me. Come around midnight. Make sure you're not followed. I'll see you then._

_-Mr. J"_

"This has gotta be a trap." said Bonk.

"It sure sounds like one." Chucko agreed.

"Let me see that." Ghoul demanded, snatching the letter from Chucko and the envelope from Bonk. He quickly re-read the letter, then peered inside of the envelope.

He reached in and pulled out a single playing card. A Joker.

"What's with the card?" Bonk asked.

"Don't you know what this _is_?" Ghoul chided. "Haven't you ever seen a history cube in your life?" Everyone looked at him in confusion. "_This_ is the sign of the Joker, Gotham's biggest villain from 50 years ago."

"So? If a lot of people know that, it's still could be a trap." Chucko said. The Deed's looked at each other and grinned.

"It sound like it could be _fun_." Delia said, slinking up to Chucko and Bonk. "Can we go? Please?" she asked, sounding like a little kid asking to go to the fair. Deidre stood back and watched her sister's antics, and Ghoul rolled his eyes at her. They'd definately be going _now._ Delia was devious like that. He turned to Woof.

"You think this is a good idea?" he asked. Woof stopped and thought for a second, then shrugged. Woof then looked at _him_ inquisitively, as though asking if _he_ thought it was a good idea. "I don't _think_ it's the cops, but I'm not sure." He was very curious, though. That card had perked his interest. He had always had an interest in Gotham's many villains, and the Joker had always been the one that had intrigued him the most.

"So, Dee Dee, do you know how to get to that candy factory?" Chucko asked. Ghoul sighed. Of _course_ Delia had convinced him to go.

"Of course." The Deed's answered in unison. "We can get there in no time."

* * *

And get there in no time they did. Of course, it had involved a lot of travelling through alleys, over rooftops, and through sewers, to a point where Ghoul was seriously questioning how they knew all these shortcuts. But get there they did.

The factory's happy exterior was rusted with age, making it look bloody. The entire area was dark and abandoned, the only source of light being the ill maintained street lights that dotted the cracked sidewalks and roads. Only one light was on in the entire district, in what looked to be the main room of the candy factory. Ghoul was extremely scared of going into that factory, though he hid it well. He could tell everyone else was, too. Woof was even shaking. While the others went ahead, he lingered behind with his companion.

"You can go back, you know." he said. Woof looked at him oddly. "I don't wanna drag you into anything." Woof shook his head, patted his shoulder, and grinned at him, as if saying _I'm sticking with you_. Ghoul felt better knowing that, no matter what kind of hell hole they were about to enter, at least Woof was with him.

Without any hesitation, he moved forward, overtaking everyone else and striding up to the small door beside the delivery doors. He opened it and entered, the others following close behind.

The room was illuminated brightly, but the back was cast in shadow, giving an eerie feeling to the room. There was no machinery like one would expect to find in a factory, but there were computer consoles along both walls and a long table in the middle of the room. At one end of the table, the end farthest from the door, was a figure completely covered in shadows. All that was visible were his glowing red eyes and his vibrant white teeth, grinning at them like a maniac. In fact, Ghoul didn't doubt he _was_ a maniac.

The man reached out one hand, skin as bleached as bone, and took a handful of candy from the jar in front of him.

"I'm glad to see you could make it." he said. His voice made Ghoul's skin crawl. "I was afraid you would ignore my invitation." He waited, as though for a reply, but everyone was silent. "Like I said, your skill is impressive, especially for such amateurs. I think you'd make an excellent edition to my team. But first, I need you to prove to me that you're capable of being called one of the 'Jokerz'."

_So _that's_ why he put that card with the letter._ Ghoul had heard of the Jokerz before. They were supposed to be a gang inspired by the Joker himself. There had been multiple groups of them in the past, but they'd all been defeated.

The man pulled out a piece of paper and slid it down the table. Chucko grabbed it, and cocked his head as though in confusion.

"That's a list of things I need you to get for me. See if you can get the first piece of equipment on that list. If you can, you'll be rewarded handsomely." he explained. Chucko still seemed to be confused by the list, so Ghoul took it from him.

He could see why Chucko had been confused. The names of the things the man wanted were highly technical, and not all that well known. Only an advanced telecommunications engineer, or someone with at least a lot of knowledge in that field, would understand what these things were. Luckily Ghoul was something of an expert.

"This is high-tech stuff. Real cutting edge. It won't be easy to find, and it'll be even harder to get at." he explained. "The pay-off better be big, otherwise it won't be worth it." He was speaking confidently, as he'd become prone to doing, but in all honesty this myserious man frightened him.

"Oh, don't worry. The pay-off will be bigger than you could imagine." he said.

"Give us a minute to think about this." Chucko said.

"Take all the time you need."

The 6 drifted back towards the door, where they were certain the man couldn't hear them, and formed a loose huddle.

"So, are we gonna do it?" Bonk asked.

"I dunno. Seems pretty risky." Chucko said. "How do we know this guy isn't gonna cheat us?" he asked.

"Sounds kind of fun." Delia said.

"It _does_ sound a little risky, though. What if he _does_ try to cheat us?" Deidre pointed out. She was always her sisters voice of reason.

"Whad'you think, Ghoulo?" Chucko asked. Ghoul stopped to think about it for a second, ignoring the hated nickname.

"It's _really_ risky." he said. "The guys who have this stuff won't let it go so easy. Security'll be tight at all theses places. It won't be worth it unless the pay-off is major."

Everyone thought about it for a minute.

"Well, _we're_ going to do it." Delia said. Deidre looked uncertain, but nodded in agreement.

"I'll do it, too. If this goes well, we'll all be stinkin' rich." Chucko agreed.

"Me too, then." Bonk said. They all looked at Ghoul. He sighed.

"I'm in." he said. He turned to look at Woof. "How about you?" he asked. Woof nodded.

They disbanded their huddle and walked back to the end of the table.

"We're in." Chucko said.

The man laughed.

Ghoul resisted the urge to cover his ears against the horrible, gut wrenching sound. This laughter was the thing nightmares were made of, and he would know, considering how many nightmares he himself had. And this was by far the scariest thing he'd ever experienced.

"Very good, kiddies." he said, after his laughter had ceased. "Now, go back to your filthy little apartment and find out where to get that first item on my list. If you manage to get it, bring it back here. Only then will I know if you're really suited to work for me...or if you're just a bunch of snot-nosed brats who happened to get lucky." Normally the insult would have been met by a brawl, but they were all too frightened by this man to care. Instead, they just scrambled out the door, the man laughing once again like a maniac.

* * *

No one spoke on the way back. They were all deathly silent, wondering what fresh hell they'd gotten themselves into. Ghoul was especially quiet. Every so often he'd glance at Woof, his first real friend, and wonder what possesed him to let him join them on this crazy 'quest', or at Deidre, whom he'd come to admire for being one of the more reasonable people he'd met and was worried for. He didn't know why, but he had a strange sense of foreboding, like they'd all just made a horrible mistake.

But it was too late to do anything now. They'd made their beds, now they had to lie in them.

They soon found out that it was the biggest mistake they would ever make.

* * *

Thanks very much for reading this. I hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is more fanfiction on its way, don't worry. But until then, ciao for now.

Lillith


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